Variable-speed gear



B. W. B. PUCKLE.

VARIABLE SPEED GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.5.1918.

Patented Feb. 3,1920.

" v ,Q 'QRMM J I "Illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Witnesses no QQJWI UNITED 1 STATES PATENT oFnroE;

, BASIL .WALTER. BRIDGE BUCKLE, or TWYFORCD, ENGLAND.

VARIABLE-SPEEDY GEAR.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, BASIL WALTER Binnon PUCKLE, a subject of the King of England,

residing at Twyford, in Berkshire, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin' Variable- Speed Gears, of which the following is a specification.-

This invention relates to variable speed-I gears and has for its object to provide [a system of gear-changing mechanism involving pull-rods so arranged 'as always'tobe under tension While effecting the gearchanging operations.

The invention is applied to variable speedgears of the type having sliding gear-wheels and consists in the combinatlon with each sliding gear-Wheel, of a pull-rod for. operat-' ing it, asingle control-member and means for selectively connecting the control-memher to either end the rod is put in tension when the control member moves the wheel in either direction.

In the preferred construction there are provided for each gear-wheel, a pair of rods arranged side by side and whereof one di-' rectly operates the gear-wheel, means for selectively connecting the control-member to one end of either of the rods'to pull it,

and means operat vely connecting together their other ends in such manner that when one is pulled by the control-member, it'pulls the other in the opposite direction.- I

Other features'of the invention will also be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawing which illustrates a c0nvenient method of carrying the invention into effect.

The figures are diagrammatic, and; in

parts not required, to illuspreparing them,

n general, been pled to the intermediate shaft" a"-by the cone-clutch 0,-

ranged to he slid along the shaft by engag inv members or yoke-pieces f, .g which en-'v ga ge respectively with channeled collars 45,

l6 connected to, or formed integrally with, the gear-wheels d and c. There are two pa rs of pull-rods, namely the pair j, lcflwhich are Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed December 5, 1918. Serial No. 265,339;

of the pull-rod whereby.

. The driven shaft 6 carries two sliding gear-wheels (Z, 6 which are ar-. 50

Patented. Feb3,f1 92o. I

associated with the gear-wheel d, and the I pa1r m, n which are associated with thee" gear-Wheel e. The yoke-piece f is fixedon the rod j, and the yoke-piece g is fixed 'on' the rod m. p is a control-member "or lever pivoted n an'axle, g. This control-lever,

j which a is preferably made in the form a foot-pedal, serves to actuate the pull-rods and so to shift the gears, It also acts to i open and close the 'cone-clutchc.

4-, s are parallel vertical pl tes mounted on opposite sides of the "control-lever and w th upper'surfacesformed a's arcs of cir-I cles whose centerscoincide with the axis of the lever axle q." FouriL-shaped slots t, a,

'0, w, are formed ineach of these plates,v the slots in the one pla'tebeing opposite,- and 1 v similar to, the slots in the other respectively. a

Ea'chrof the pull-rods has rigidly secured on 1t a pick-up'fing'er, the fingers being indicated by the reference numerals-'2,- 3, 4:, 5- respectively. These 'fingers'are formed with small horizontal portionsat their upper" I ends, which portions enter the slots in the plates 1', s. The arrangement"shovi'n'in the drawingus a convenient fingers engagewith the one plate andtwoj of the fingers withthe other plate,i-one fin-i d that ger'in each case being'on the insideg-an trol-lever is made in two parts 6,1..7 ,t

one; two of the other on theoutside, of the plate." ,Th a

per part 6 being arr'angedzitohave er.

scopic sliding connection with the lower poi}; tron 7. Thisupper portion is provided 'witliff atransverse pin'w extending'on both sidesv of the lever. This pin is adapted to enter any one ofthe four-slots in the platesij 'hjs and'to engage with the ic k-up finger. in,

that slotin one or'o ther o the plates. The telescopic action of the upper part'of ithe --leve'r,. combinedwith the swinging-over; of

the lever, allowsthe pin w to be moved down. the vertical part'of the slot and-along the horizontal portion. The pinm therefore acts a as a selecting finger whereby any one of the pick-up fingers can be'engaged and moved "alongitsslot. I It follows that, by suitableaction of the lever, any one of the]. pick-up fingers can be actuated, and consequently Inoved-tothe leftin any one of the pull-rods can be mechanically. put in tension and Fig. 1. I

' .By swinging the lever, toward the left,

' the'cam 3 on'the bottom of the lever acts on a collar a to. disengage fthe cone-clutch a and thus disconnect the intermediate shaft from the engine-shaft.

Each pull-rod is provided with a toothed the fixed frame or box which carries the gear. It follows-that, when either of the racks 11 or 12 is pulled to the left (in F ig. 1)

by its pull-rod, the opposing rack will be driven to the right an equal distance. The racks 13, 14 and the pinion 16 are similarly arrangedand act similarly.

The two pairs of pull-rods are interconnected by rocking levers 17, 18 which are pivoted at their centers to the frante or gear boX, the ends of the levers being provided with slots 19 within which are located pins 20 carried by blocks 21, 22, 23 and 24. The blocks 21 and 24 are fixed on the pull-rods j and 'm respectively, but the blocks 22 and 23 are loose and slidable respectively on the same rods. In consequence of this, it follows that, when the block 21 is moved by its pull-rod in either-direction, the 'block 23 slid along its pull-rod m in the opposite direction: and, similarly, when the block 24 is moved in either direction by its pull-rod.

m, the block 22 is slide along its pull-rod j in the opposite direction.

25 is a tie-rod fixed to the yoke-piece g Y and extending through the other yoke-piece It carries stops 26, 26",one on each side of the yoke-piece f to limit the relative movement of the two yoke-pieces as'hereinafter described.

27 is a lay shaft on which are fixed the gear-wheels28, 29, 31 and 32. 33 is a short idle shaft or stud which carries the reversing gear-Wheel 34 which is constantly in mesh with the gear 32. is a gear-wheel which is fixed on the intermediate shaft a and is constantly in mesh with the gear wheel 28. V Fixed to the intermediate shaft 04 or to the pinion 35 (which is fastened to this shaft) is one portion 42 of a dog-clutch, the other portion 43 of which is fixed to, and moves with, the gear-wheel d. The move ment of the gear-wheel d to the lefttherefore puts the clutch in engagement, and the reverse movement given to this gear-wheel I rods 37,38 to another cross-bar 36 disposed in front of the control-lever. -The rods 37 38 are mounted in any convenient manner so that they can slide, and are provided with stops, for example the collars 37 38* respectively for butting against fixed guide- I pieces 44* which also serve as abutments for spring 44. The springaby reason of the stops 37*, 38*, normally keep the cross-bar 39 in the position shown in the drawings, and in this position the cross-bar 36 issufficiently forward'to clear the control-lever when'in,

any one of its positions for operating the gears. To bring all of the gears simulta neously to the neutral positions thelever 1s;

swung forward beyond the'position for en-* gaging the pick-u finger 5 so that it is is swung forward until the selecting finger a enters the slot t. Making use of the telescopic action of the lever, the driver forces the selecting finger down the vertical portion of the slot and along the horizontal portion until it engages with the pick-up finger 2 so as to push this finger to the left and put tension on the pull-rod y. This causes the yokepiece f to move the gear-wheel (Z to the left and close the dog-clutch 42, 43. The driven shaft 7) is then engaged for direct drive by the intermediate shaft. but the swingingforward of the control-lever has disengaged the cone-clutch 0 previous to the closing of the dog-clutch. The control-lever is now swung back so as to engage the cone-clutch and thus bring the direct drive into operation from the engine-shaft through the intermediate shaft to the driven shaft.

The movement of the pull-rod j to the left carries the block 21 (which is fast on the pull-rod) and that endof the lever 17 to the left, and the other end of this lever, acting on'the block 23, which is loose on its pull rod, moves this block over to the right up against the block 24. As this block 24 is fixed on its pull-rod, and the yoke-piece g is also fixed on the same pull-rod m, the gear wheel e is prevented from moving to the left. Moreover, the movement of the yoke piece 7' to the left, as alreadymentioned, brings it up against the stop 26 on the tie-rod 25, and.

this tie-rod consequently prevents the yokepiece. 9 from moving to the right. The

yoke-piece g, and the gear-wheel e are thus I looked against movement in either direction, and the gear-Wheel 0 cannot engage either with thepinion 31 or the pinion 34-whi1e the dog-clutch 42, 43 is in operative position. 1

If it is now desired to throw in the second 'geanthe control-lever is swung-forward, and itsselecting finger is entered into,- and moved along, the slot a. By this action the cone-clutch is opened, and the pick-up finger 3, fixed on the pull-rod 7c, is engaged. This rod is consequently pulled to the left, which motion, through the agency of the racks and pinion, pulls the rod j to the right lever is consequently restrained from'move ment to the right and, as the block 24 and the yoke-piece g arehothfasttonthe rod on,

the gear-wheel e is restrained from movement to the right, ("which might cause it to engage with the reversing pinion 34) while movement to the left (which might cause 'it to engage with the pinion 31) is prevented by the engagement. of the stop 26 with the yoke-piece f. 1

If it is now desired to employ the third speed, the selectingfinger of the controllever is entered into the slot 4), and the pickup finger 4 is actuated-to move the rod m to the left, the control-lever at the same time opening the cone-clutchc. The yokepiece 9 is consequently-pulled to the left and places the gear-wheel e in mesh with the pinion 31. The control-lever 6 being now swung back,the cone-clutch c is closed, and the shaft 7) is driven through the gearwheels 35, 28 and 31, 6.; i

The movement of the rod m to the left, as just mentioned, brings the block 24, which is fast on the rod m, up against the loose block 23 and thusrestrains the adjacent end of the lever 17 from movement to the right. The other end of this lever is thus prevented from movement to the left,andconsequently the yoke-piece f r'events a movement of the gear-wheel d w ich would close the dogclutch 42, 43. A movement of the gear- Wheel d to'the right is prevented by the stop 26 on the tie-rod 25.

If it is now desired to put the reversing gear into operation, the controllever is swung forward, theselecting finger entered into the slot w, ,andjthe piok-up'finger 5 is actuated to move the rod n to the left, the control-lever at the-same. time opening the cone-clutch 6. Through the action of the racksfand pinion, the'rod m is pifiled to the right, and consequently the yoke-piece 'g moves the gear-wheel e into mesh withthe reversing pinion 34 which. is. constantly in m'eshfwith the pinion 32. The swingingback of the control-lever, by closingthe cone-clutch, causes the shaft 5 to be driven in a reverse direction through the agears wheels 35,, 2s and '32, '34., 6.

The movement-ofthe bloek a i-(wliieh faston the rod m) to the right win 5 over the remote end of the lever 18to the eft up 'or action of .the

to secure by Letters against the block 21 and consequentlyprevents the movement of the yoke-piece f to the right and thus restrains thegear-Wheel d from meshing with the gear-pinion 29.

Moreover, as the tie-rod 25 has been moved to the right with the yoke-piece 9 until the stop26 is up against the yoke-piece f, the latter is restrained from movement to the left, and consequently the dog-clutch 42, 43

cannot be closed.

Either of the gear-wheels d and 6, after having been moved into operative position,

may be retained in that position by a spring detent or other suitable device.

Y When" it is-desired to place the gear in its neutral-position, that is, in the position shown on the drawing when neither the I wheel at nor the wheel 6 is in gear wlth a pinion and when the dog-clutch 42, 43 is open, the control-lever is swung forward till the selecting finger m passes beyond. the slot 'w. .The rods 37, 38 are thus moved to such an extent as to bring the cross-bar 39 up against anyprojecting racks and force these racks to the leftinto the positions shown on the drawing.

As the control-lever can be. made in the form of a foot-pedal, the employment of this gear arrangement obviates the necessity of the driver employing either of his hands in shifting the gears. A driver can therefore, as a rule, give both hands to steering vand other operations, while, in the case of a man who hasonly the use of one'hand, this need never, as a rule, be taken off the steering wheel.

Only two slots are really necessary in each of the plates 1" and s; but it is convenient to have the one plate slotted exactly like the other, e. to have two'idle slots in each plate, as allowing of asimpler construction finger. v

lVhat I claim as in invention and .desir atent is Y 1. In variable-speed gear comprising a slidable change-s eedjmember, the combine tion with the sli able change-speed member, of a pull-rod operatively engaged therewith at a point intermediate of its ends to impart sliding movementTto the said member in opposite directions, and a control'member arranged tomechanically impart tensile stress selectively to either end of'the pullsrod to slide the said-change speedmember, for the purpose specified. y

2. In variable-speed. gear comprising a control-lever and selecting plurality of slidable change-speed members,

the combination with the said members, of a plurality ofpull-rods operatively engaged at pointsintermediate of their ends one with eaeh change-speed member to impart sliding movement to their allotted members, and

asingle oontrolmember for the pull-rods arranged to mechanically impart tensile stress selectively to either end of each 'pull two rods of one pair at adjacent ends, means operatively connecting the two'rods of the other pair at the corresponding, adjacent ends, so that when one rod of either pair is pulled in one direction the other rod of the same pair is pulled in the reverse direction, and a single control member for the pullrods arranged to selectively impart tensile stress to either of the other adjacent ends of either pair of the said pull-rods.

4. In a variable-speed gear comprising two slidabl change-speed members, the coinbination with the two change-speed members, of a pair of pull-rods whereof the elements are arranged sideby-side, one rod being operatively connected with one of said members for sliding it when the rod is moved endwise, another pair of pull-rods disposed parallel to the first and having one rod operatively connected with the other of said.

members for sliding it when the rod is moved endwise, means operatively connecting the two rods of one pair at adjacent ends, means operatlvely connectmg the two rods of the other pair at the corresponding adj acent ends, so that when one rod of either pair is pulled in one direction the other rod of thesame pair is pulled in the reverse direction, a single control member for the pull-rods arranged to selectively impart tensile stress to either of the other adjacent ends of either pair of the said pull-rods, and locking means operatively connected with each pair of pull-rods and arranged to lock the one pair against movement when th other pair is operated.

5. In variable-speed gear comprising two slidable change-speed members, the combination with the two change-speed members, of a pair of pnllrods whereof the elements are arranged side-'by-side, one rod carrying an operatingmember' operatively connected with one of said change-speed members for sliding it when the rod is moved endwise, another pair of pull-rods disposed parallel to the first, one rod of the latter pair carrying an operating member operatively connected with the other of said change-speed members for sliding it when the rod is moved endwise, means operatively connecting the two rods of one pair at adjacent ends, means operatively connecting the two rods of the other pair at corresponding adjacent. ends, so that when one rod of either pair is pulled in one direction the other rod of the same pair is pulled in the reverse direction,

a single control member for the pull-rods ar-- and the corresponding end of the other lever having sliding engagement with the same rod, the said levers further being so spaced apart that when a pull-rod of one pair is operated one lever is rocked over by means of its engagement with a pull-rod of that pair until its other end butts against that end of the other lever which has non-sliding engagement with a pull-rod of the other.

pair and thus prevents rockingof that lever in one direction, an arm having two stops spaced apart, said arm being operatively connected to one of said change-speed members. the said stops being located on opposite sides of the operating member movable with the other change-speed member and so spaced that when the latter change-speed member is at one end of its travel its operating member lies against one of the aforesaid stops and thus prevents the other operating member from moving in one direction and when it is at the other end of its travelit lies against the other stop.

6. In variable-speed gear comprising a.

plurality of slidable change-speed members, the combination with the change-speed members, of a plurality of pull-rods operatively engaged one with each member to impart sliding movement to their allotted members, a single control-lever pivoted to swing about an axis transverse to itslength, said lever having a yieldingly-controlled telescopic extension carrying a lateral pin, an arcuate plate having a series of. slots wherein the said pin can be selectively moved by combined swingingand telescopic movement of the lever, and pick-up fingers disposed one in each slot and-connected in pairs to the aforesaid rods.

7 In variable-speed gear comprising two slidable change-speed members, the combination with the two change-speed members, of a pair of pull-rods whereof the elements are arranged sideby-side, one rod being operatively connected with one of said members for sliding it when the rod is moved endwise, another pair of pull-rods disposed.

parallel to the first and having one rod operatively connected with the other of said members for sliding it when the rod'is moved endwise, means operatively connecting the two rods of one pair at adjacent ends, means operatively connecting the two rods of the other pair at the corresponding adja cent ends so that when one rod of either pair is pulled in one directionthe other rod is pulled in the reverse direction, a return member disposed transversely to the pullrods and in the path of the same so that when it is advanced it will move any rod forward which projects relatively to its neighboring rod and thuswillreturn'them all to their neutral position, and a single control-member for the pull-rods and for the said return member arranged" to selectively operate any one of the'pull-rods or the return-member.

8. In variable-speed gear comprising a slidable gear-shifting member, the combination with the gear-shifting member, of a pull-rod operatively engaged therewith at a point intermediate of its ends, a second pullrod having one end operatively connected with one end of the former pull-rod pull the same in one direction, and a control member arranged to selectively impart tensile stress to the other ends of said pull-rods to slide the gear-shifting member at will in either direction.

9. In Variable-speed gear comprising a plurality of slidable, gear-shifting members, the combination with said members, of a plurality of primary pull-rods operatively connected at points intermediate of. their ends each with one gear-shifting member to to slide the gear-shifting members at will in either direction.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

BASIL WALTER BRIDGE PUCKLE.

. impart sliding movements to their allotted 

